A selectively-absorptive wire grid polarizer (WGP) can include a rib of material that is absorptive in the wavelength range of interest. Because of the structure of the rib, the WGP can selectively absorb one polarization while allowing an opposite polarization to substantially transmit through the WGP.
The absorptive material used in a selectively-absorptive WGP can have a narrow band of effective absorption. Consequently, one WGP is typically designed for one narrow spectrum of light and another WGP is designed for another narrow spectrum of light. For example, three WGPs might be used to cover the visible spectrum of light (one WGP for red, another for green, and another for blue). It would be beneficial to both the user and the manufacturer of selectively-absorptive WGPs to absorb a larger bandwidth of light.